Biblical cherry picking doesn’t come any more awfully ironic than this. A better example of using religion to cloak naked, indefensible bigotry and hate is difficult to imagine. Regardless of whether the wearer of this tattoo had read Leviticus 19:28, his claim that the victim’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with the nearly-deadly beat-down* would be wide open for what we lawyers call “impeachment.”
It’s not that I think religion necessarily leads to this sort of thing. It doesn’t. But here’s the rule, people. If you’re going to be religious, that’s fine. Just don’t pretend that your religion is a substitute for morality. You aren’t relieved of your obligation to your fellow human beings to behave in an ethical fashion just because you are faithful. When you are religious, and you make ethical decisions (like deciding to beat a man into unconsciousness because he’s gay), you represent your religion to the rest of the world. What kind of an advertisement are you?
And that goes for atheists, too. No one gains moral cachet with me because they share my lack of religious faith. You, too, must still be moral and behave within the boundaries of civilized society.
